Pond Boss Forums AQUATIC VEGETATION Balance of plants in the environment WHAT WILD WATER PLANTS FOR A POND

I'm in the Buffalo Tx area and am wondering if there is a good wild water plant to " plant" in my 5ac pond that won't take over the whole pond

Would american pondweed or pickerel weed be a good choice or would nothing at all be better?

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Pat W

I'm in SW MO, and I'm wondering about the same thing. I have an old pond with almost no vegetation in it. I planted a few wild celery plants this fall just to see if they will survive, and I've ordered Pontederia cordata (Pickerel Plant)and duck potato seed. The problem for me is finding plants that will provide shelter for forage species without turning into a management nightmare. Water plantain and mud plantain also look like they could work for me. I almost ordered arum seed before I learned that it's toxic to livestock. I will probably order duck potato and wild celery tubers in the spring.

Pat:

Pickerelweed is a marginal, growing both in and out of the pond at the waters edge. I like American Pondweed. It provides some shade for the fish, it's easy to fish in with weedless topwater lures and it's easy to control if it gets out of hand.

The downside is that it doesn't provide cover for YOY fish. That's not a problem if you have artificial cover in the pond for them. Look at Eel grass too.

Eel grass is another name for wild celery. It goes by a lot of names. Its generic name is Valisneria americana. My booklet on nuisance aquatic plants in MO ponds says there are 10 species of pondweeds in MO, and not all are considered a nuisance, but it doesn't say which are which. I've wondered about American Pondweed (Potamogeton nodosus).

I would have thought American Pond weed would be good cover/habitat for YOY with all those stems and leaves - both floating and submerged. What is it about it that doesn't work well as cover for the YOY?

FWIW I tried planting several types of vegetation last year. Just small amounts of each to see what would survive the large level swings in a water table pond. The duck potato, creeping rush and yellow lilies did well. One plant, of what I think is American pond weed, showed up last summer. I am hoping it survives and spreads some. Water arum, dwarf cattail, pickerelweed, dwarf sagittaria, soft rush and lizard tail did not do well and I doubt they will survive.

Bob Lusk advised me to look at American pondweed and Button brush on the edges of the pond. I'd like some non-aggressive water lilies, too, but want to be sure before I plant any.

Louisiana iris...these do spread but not aggressively and can relatively easily be managed.

You can always plant waterlilies in large pots or washtubs to prevent spreading.

Anthropic, Al (Fireishot) posted a while back, of a place in the DFW area, where waterlilies with reduced spreading tendencies might be purchased. Maybe he will pass along the name of the business again. or you maybe could pm him for the info. And my water celery did not survive, I figure reduced light in a fertilized pond is why it did not take. Reduced light penetration = plant dies, I knew that if I would have just thought about it before spending the $$ DA on my part. And JDM is right on with the Louisiana Iris, has done well at my pond along with Blue Flag Iris. American Pondweed 2 plants out of approx. $600 worth survived. Better than none, I guess. And nothing from MN has come to the pond waters, so I might be lucky there.

Tracy

Tracy,

I think you are spot on with your assessment with respect to sunlight. I suspect many of the marginals I planted did not survive because I planted them at low pool. When Ma Nature brought rain that put them under 4 feet of water for several weeks, they died off. I am going to try some of them again but plant them much higher up on the shore. Hopefully, that and improved pond visibility, do to erosion control efforts implemented since the last planting, will provide a better result.

Tracy, don't give up on your plants just yet. When I planted Vallisneria americana, it looked like it had be sprayed with Rodeo all year, then sprouted right up the next spring. I've been looking at the Taro plant, and I think I'll be adding a few of those to the shady areas of the pond.

Creative Water Gardens in Garland TX is where I shop. Pat, be careful if you shop at "water garden" shops. Some of the plants they stock are very invasive, and work best in small koi-type ponds where they're easily managed by hand.

Al, Thanks for passing along the info AGAIN And I hope u r correct about the plants sprouting back up. it was like throwing money away after seeing the results of my planting. I like plants, all plants that are beneficial to all wildlife, so when I have a bust, I am not real happy about it, even though I learn from my mess ups.

Tracy

Bill D, I remember when I was new to pond plants and we were talking of our plantings and how we would share our experiences, so what I have learned is, do not do as I do and I continue to hope your plantings do well.

Tracy

I have purchased water lilies from www.texaswaterlilies.com. I came across that recommendation somewhere on this site. They have a huge selection and great service. They have low spreading varieties. The plants came quickly, healthy, and I have not found any stray plants that tagged along.

I had trouble getting my lilies established but it was due to something eating them every time they sent up a new leaf.

Bill, it's about cover density. Look at the stems of APW, see how far they are apart? Little fish need cover that is closer together, as they grow larger, the spaces between the cover can get larger and larger. My take on it is that 3"-8" fish can swim through that cover VERY easily, and smaller YOY fish don't have places to escape predation that easily, when compared to denser cover. Compare the stems of APW to plants like Coontail, Milfoil, etc. Not saying that THEY are good for a pond, just comparing types of cover.

Makes sense. I guess in my case, with effectively no submerged vegetation currently, I will take the pond weed, if it grows, as better than nothing. I might try the Eel grass next spring as well if I can find a source.

Bill D., you are finding out what my problem is. Pond level drops, shallow water pond bottom is exposed, plants die.

When the pond fills, it's tannin laden water from the woods, and there is not enough sunlight reaching the existing wet pond bottom, all the sun can do is reach the bottom that was dry for months. Hence no underwater weed growth, no cover is shallow water for the YOY fish.

If I had plastic cover in the shallow areas of the pond for YOY fish, then 6+ months of the year it would be out of water and look ugly.

Unfortunately I don't have an answer. The only possible solution would be floating islands with stuff hanging down, but they'd have to be anchored in deeper water every week as the pond water level drops.

The downside to that is they make perfect waterfowl (goose) nesting sites. I've got enough problems keeping them off of the pond and the island...........

Kester's Wild Game Food Nurseries INC. sells eelgrass. They call it water celery. They show it in one place but it's not on their price list. They told me over the phone they sell it as tubers and in another form (plants or seed I suppose).

Thanks Turtle,

I will check them out.

Esshup,

I definitely share your pain. Sounds like we need a thread for the water table pond owners where we can document vegetation success stories and the not so successful stories to help others following this path.

I have to smile about what plants are best for a pond. Things constantly change. The reaction to every action thing is constantly taking place. Plant bog plants and the water goes down and that hard work and expense is down the drain. Plant some eel grass and then put in some grass carp and in my experience there goes the grass. Then when it gets really out of hand, chemically zap it and start all over again. So the fun is enjoying the journey to what ever you seek in your perfect pond.

Eurasian Water Milfoil does well in my situation..............
Thanks to the geese.

I will be hitting it again this Spring with Fluridone.

My pond will always be up and down. Makes the selection of planting pretty difficult.
I think we will plant some iris around the edges, and see how that goes.
Limited drainage into the pond, and a slow leak from somewhere in the bottom will always keep it going up and down. Surrounded by trees, and steep banks won't help much either. Along with a clay base, it makes for tough growing. Although my fescue and winter wheat that we planted along the banks, did come in very well.

Maybe some ideas here

http://www.cardnonativeplantnursery.com/docs/default-source/catalog/stormwater121214.pdf?sfvrsn=4

RAH,

Thanks for the info. I'm always looking for new sources and options. The forb mix looks like something I'd be interested in.

We have had mixed luck with direct seeding and have gone to buying seed packets and raising seedlings for transplanting. More work but more successful and economical.